Many (many, many, many) years ago a family friend offloaded her unwanted copy of the Pixies ‘Bossanova‘ album on my pre-teenage ears. Having read Kurt Cobain rave about the Boston outfit in multiple interviews I was happy with the unexpected addition to my collection. I don’t think she realised the impact this gift would have on me but in this pre-internet era I was soon buying the rest of the bands back catalogue and analysing every word and note.
Though each and every one of their releases holds a special place in my heart the one album that left the biggest impression was 1989’s Doolittle. For some reason I immediately connected with its tracks and could draw parallels with Nirvana‘s quiet/loud dynamics. I even remember that a few years later when my band were preparing to record our first album we had the album, and in particular ‘Monkey Gone To Heaven‘ and ‘Hey‘, on constant repeat.
Having spurned the opportunity to see them on their 2004 reunion tour there was no way I was going to miss the 20th anniversary Doolittle tour, after all this one was one of my desert island albums. Fortunately the band played 4 consecutive London dates allowing me to make up for lost time.
Starting these shows with a few b-sides to a back lit settings add a degree of mystique to proceedings and Kim Deal‘s claim that these songs have only been played “like 5 times including tonight” definitely raises the anticipation levels. With the crowd suitably galvanized the band are ready to wheel out the hits and the familiar bass intro to ‘Debaser‘ sees the venue erupt.
I’m delighted to see the band follow the album’s tracklisting almost to the letter and it is evident Frank Black has been looking after his voice as his part howl part croon is as impressive as it is on record. It probably helps to have 5000 rabid fans chanting every word back at you.
‘Monkey Gone To Heaven‘ and ‘Here Comes Your Man‘ represent some of the highlights in the bands repertoire and undoubtedly receive added attention when they get aired but its the David Lovering fronted ‘La La Love You‘ that receives the biggest cheer and has almost every in the audience wolf whistling the familiar refrain.
Kim Deal treats this as if she is personally spinning the vinyl live for us announcing “we are getting into the deeper cuts now” and her buoyant stage presence puts her as the clear mouth piece for the band. Having seen her in the past with The Breeders I have to reiterate that there is no one cooler than Kim Deal in this world. Fact.
It has to be said that Joey Santiago come pretty close on the cool-metre, his slick demeanour and laid back attitude are a beauty to watch. The striking guitar leads come alive on stage spitting out familiar melodies and its impossible not to observe how easy he makes it seem. Album closer ‘Gouge Away‘, a personal favourite of mine, is a perfect bookend to the album and is delivered like an adrenaline rush to the heart.
The decision to have a custom video for each song projected on the backdrop was spectacular and a lot of care went into matching the videos and images with the songs and really enhanced the entire audio visual experience. As the band take their bows on stage (and on screen) Brixton Academy becomes a swelling mass of hands.
With the house lights turned on the crowd are left begging for more, obviously the band hit the stage again first for a planned and again for a not so planned encore. Pixies classics ‘Gigantic’ and ‘Where Is My Mind‘ are rolled out to the delight of everyone in attendance including the barstaff, the merchandising guys and security who are all dancing with gusto.
Having loved Doolittle for so long this was always going to be a special experience for me. Hearing the 15 tracks played back to back was an amazing experience and my only regret is that I had not seen them earlier. This was a reminder to exactly why I love them.
TRACKS:
Pixies – Gouge Away (live)
